[img_assist|nid=367442|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=300|height=239]According to Governor Scott Walker's website, he has five top priorities: Reforming Government, Creating Jobs, Transforming Education, Devoloping Our Workforce, and Investing in Our Infrastructure.
What is telling is that in the same breath, he makes a clear distincion between "reforming" (government) and "transforming" (education).
Of course, "reforming" and "transforming" are two very different words. To reform means to to put or "change into an improved form," while to transform means "to change in composition or structure."
For example if you want to improve your kid's behavior, you would send him to reform school, while if you wanted to turn your kid into a microwave, you would send him to transform school.
In this case, Scott Walker clearly wants to transform out public school system to a mostly private school system. Think that's bombastic conjecture? Don't take my word for it: Look no further than the inventor of school vouchers and the spiritual center of Scott Walker, the Bradley Foundation, the Koch Brothers, and most of Rightwing America: Milton Friedman.
Friedman's blue print for transforming education was entitled "Public Schools: Make them Private." In this manifesto, he opined that "the problem is how to get from here (public school system) to there (private school system)" and that the solution was vouchers, saying "vouchers are not an end in themselves; they are a means to make a transition from a government to a market system."
Don't get Scott Walker wrong: He's not for killing-off all public schools. If a school district has a high property tax base, then that public school will likely survive (think Beverly Hills High). Most public schools, however, will wither on the vine and die. That's how we get "from here to there"
And that's the difference between reforming and transforming.